A/HRC/49/46/Add.1 Annex Report of the Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Fernand de Varennes, on his visit to the United States of America I. Introduction 1. From 8 to 22 November 2021, the Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Fernand de Varennes, conducted an official visit to the United States of America at the invitation of the Government to evaluate the situation of minorities in the country. He visited the capital, Washington, D.C., and had both online and in person meetings in the States of California and Texas, as well as in the territories of Guam and Puerto Rico, including locations in northern Guam and the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico. He consulted widely with more than 100 officials at the federal, state and territorial levels and with academics, representatives of civil society organizations and minorities from different parts of the country, as well as with senior government officials from federal ministries, including the State Department, the Department of the Interior, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Justice, the Department of Education, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Trade Commission, the Domestic Policy Council, the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Pacific Islands Caucus, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. 2. In California, the Special Rapporteur met with representatives of the California Department of Education, the Department of Justice, the California Latino Legislative Caucus, the California Legislative Black Caucus and the California Asian and Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus. In Texas, the Special Rapporteur met with the Chair of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus and the Vice-Chair of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus, as well as the Elections Administrator of Harris county. 3. In Guam, the Special Rapporteur met with the Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the Legislature of Guam, the Chair of the Legislative Committee on Environment, Revenue and Taxation, Labour, Procurement and Statistics, Research, and Planning, the Attorney General, the Chief Programme Officer of the Guam Preservation Trust, as well as with members of the Board of the Kumision I Fino’ Chamoru. In Puerto Rico, he had meetings with the Director of the Civil Rights Commission of Puerto Rico and with a member of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico. 4. The Special Rapporteur also received a very large number of written submissions, both in advance and during his visit, from civil society organizations, in particular organizations representing Asian Americans, Arabs, atheists and humanists, Bahá’is, African Americans, Cajuns, Chamorros, the deaf, Dominicans, Haitians, Hindus, Hispanic and Latinx communities, Jews, Koreans, Muslims, Pacific Islanders, the Roma and other minorities. He is deeply grateful to all of those who organized community consultations with him. 5. The Special Rapporteur extends his sincere gratitude to the Government of the United States for its invitation to undertake this mission and for the support and invaluable cooperation of the State Department.1 He regrets that no official of the State of Texas was available or accepted to meet with him. 1 2 The Special Rapporteur is grateful for the support and the work undertaken by Hee Kyong Yoo, Marina Narvaez, Isabelle Besse and particularly Christel Mobech in the coordination and finalization of the mission to the United States. He also thanks the staff of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and Manuel Lujan Cruz, graduate of the United Nations Minority Fellowship Programme, for their assistance. Many others provided invaluable and much appreciated assistance for meetings and support in different locations, including the American Civil Liberties Union; the Center on Race, Immigration & Social Justice at California State University,